The article outlines how Square has developed their own P2P product to cater to those that require the ability to easily gain cash access to P2P funds. Person to person (P2P) payment has been an area of interest for financial institutions, fintech providers, mobile device companies, and social networks for some time now. The idea of being able to nearly effortlessly send and request payments to/from peers has been gaining momentum for the past several years. While the early adopters tended to be younger generations, the use of the P2P conduit is expanding to older generations with new offerings. The ability to convert these digital funds to accessible cash has been one area that has limited both use and interest from broad consumer segments.
Earlier this year, Square Cash, Square’s mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) payment offering, launched the Cash Card, a physical prepaid product that customers can use to spend their Square Cash balance anywhere that accepts Visa.
Now, customers can also use their cards to withdraw cash from their balances at any ATM via their Square Cash PINs, a feature that’d been previously announced but didn’t go live until last week. Withdrawals will be fee-free from Square’s end, but customers could see out-of-network ATM fees set by ATM operators.
Mercator Advisory Group expects the ATM access to P2P funds will be expected by more consumers in the near term. The beta testing of Apple Pay Cash is underway, and while it does not explicit outline ATM cash access, the association with Green Dot makes the capability a relatively light lift. We expect the pervasiveness of P2P in all of its forms will expand consumer familiarity with the process and comfort in its use. More consumers being able to access funds via ATM will be a milestone for acceptance. Mercator Advisory Group delves further into the roles ATMs play in the 2017 ATM Market Benchmark Report.
Overview by Joseph Walent, Associate Director, Customer Interactions Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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